James Biela is led from the courtroom Wednesday afternoon June 2, 2010 after being sentenced to death for the murder of Brianna Denison. / Marilyn Newton / RGJ

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About the case

The arrest: James Biela was arrested in November 2008 and accused of raping and killing 19-year-old Brianna Denison, a Reno High School graduate, early in the year and of sexual assaults on two women in late 2007.The trial: Biela's trial began May 10 and ended last Thursday, when the Washoe District Court jury found him guilty on all counts. The sentence: The same jury then heard testimony from members of the Biela and Denison families and lawyer arguments for two days. After almost nine hours of deliberations, they agreed Wednesday that Biela should be executed for killing Denison. He will be sentenced on the 2007 assaults on July 30.

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Death for James Biela. Justice for Bri.

The blue-ribbon-lined buttons bearing Brianna Denison's smiling face that appeared on the lapels of dozens of people in the courtroom after the verdict summed it up.

"Justice was served," said retired Reno police Detective Adam Wygnanski, one of the lead investigators on the case. "The jury had a tough job, and they did it."

After three-and-a-half weeks of trial, testimony from 60 witnesses and about nine hours of deliberations, the seven-woman, five-man jury rejected his lawyers' calls for life without parole and sentenced Biela to death for the 2008 rape and murder of Denison, a 19-year-old Reno High School graduate and sophomore at Santa Barbara City College.

On the verdict form, the jurors acknowledged that Biela experienced a cruel and painful childhood but still agreed that he should die by lethal injection.

After the decision was announced, Judge Robert Perry told everyone in the courtroom: "My heart goes out to all of the innocent people who have been touched by this tragedy."

Perry set July 30 for sentencing Biela on the kidnapping and two counts of sexual assault on other women.

As Biela was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, he told his family, lining the front row, not to cry and that he loved them.

"We love you, Jimmy," they called out as he passed.

On the other side of the room, where the Denison-Zunino family sat for almost a month, was elation and a promise to use the tragedy to make the community a safer place.

The foundation

Brianna's mother, Bridgette Denison, told a news conference after the verdict that they're ready to fight.

"Together, we lost a beautiful, vibrant and promising life, and my family and friends have suffered unimaginable tragedy, but we can and will turn this loss into something positive and good," she said. "When James Michael Biela messed with my little girl, he messed with the wrong families, the wrong group of women and the wrong city and state."

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Through the Brianna Denison Foundation, she said they would work to toughen laws against offenders in an effort to prevent others from experiencing the heartbreak they've suffered.

Carol Pierce, Brianna's paternal grandmother, said the verdict has not set in yet.

"I didn't expect that," she said, adding that she would have accepted a sentence of either life or death. "As long as you get him off the streets, so he doesn't hurt anybody else."

Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick praised the law enforcement agencies and community for pulling together and solving the crimes: the rape and murder of Denison and two sexual assaults in late 2007.

"We had three victims that brought us all together to get positive results," Gammick said after the verdict. "A sexual predator was removed from our midst permanently."

Deputy District Attorney Elliott Sattler, who prosecuted the case with Chris Hicks, praised the jury's hard work and the Denison family's strength.

"It touches you emotionally when you deal with good people," Sattler said. "And the three (victims) in this case were outstanding women.

"It's gratifying to know that I was a part of producing justice."

Secret Witness

Don Richter, founder of the Secret Witness hot line that generated a tip that made Biela a suspect, encouraged the community to continue to participate in solving crimes.

"The message we're trying to get out is that police fight crimes with guns and tear gas, but all you need is a telephone," Richter said.

The mother of the December 2007 rape victim read a statement from the young woman, thanking all of those who helped her and her family.

"A simple thank you is not enough to convey how I feel," the mother read.

The woman was especially grateful to her victim's advocate "for taking such good care of me." The advocate's support inspired her to become a victim's advocate herself.